Basildon Hospital: Healthcare watchdog 'takes action' to protect patients at maternity unit
Healthcare watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has taken action to protect the welfare of people using an Essex maternity unit.
Inspectors from the CQC branded services at Basildon University Hospital's maternity unit as inadequate overall in a report published in August this year.
In a statement, the CQC said it inspected the unit again on September 18 due to "ongoing concerns", and has taken action.
The CQC said it could not go into further detail at this time for legal reasons.
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the services, has been given a deadline of November 9 to make recommended changes, the BBC has reported.
The CQC said in a statement: "CQC inspected maternity services at Basildon Hospital on September 18 in response to ongoing concerns and to check on whether improvements had been made following a warning notice that was served by CQC in the summer.
"As a result, we have taken action to protect the welfare of people using the service.
"While our legal processes do not allow us to go in to further detail at this time, a full report will be published in due course.
"Meanwhile, we are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement with regard to our ongoing concerns."
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the services, said after the inspection report was published in August that services were "safe to use" and apologised for not making improvements "quickly enough".
Gabriela Pintilie, 36, lost six litres of blood and died after giving birth to her daughter via Caesarean section at the hospital in February 2019.
A coroner said there were "serious failings" in her care and found that she was not given blood products that were available.
Stephanie Prior, head of medical negligence at London law firm Osbornes Law, who represents Mrs Pintilie's husband Ionel Pintilie, said the deadline for making improvements was "long overdue".